Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers

51 – One Body, Two Souls (4)

Corporal collapsed, not even able to take a few steps. It seemed she was also too shaken to control her body.

Saintess and Valkyrie rushed over, supporting us both. The two soldiers’ hands grabbed my shoulders at the same time.

“Major?”

“Colonel?”

“Major, you exerted yourself fighting. The corporal is lighter, so help her.”

“No. I’m fine. It’s harder, so I’ll do it.”

“You’re awkward with the Mage. Don’t push yourself, just leave it to me.”

“No, I, well…”

Valkyrie sighed and hoisted Corporal onto her back. Saintess smiled, letting me loop my arm over her shoulder. She groaned, taking a step.

“Sorry. Can you put just a little bit of strength into it?”

“I’ll try.”

I said it like that, but when I actually tried to put strength into my legs, the muscles screamed.

“Does it hurt? Just what kind of magic did you use?”

“It was a magic still in the experimental stage.”

The Pyrestone is a mana fusion-based magic stone. It has high destructive power, but the research isn’t complete, so the efficiency is extremely low.

“I used it once before. And then I was bedridden for days. Just as I expected, it was hell.”

“That bad? Experiment? Research? Why did you use it back then?”

“Because I wanted to kill you.”

“…And now?”

“Because I want to save you.”

Alaune might have had more lives. I wanted to finish it off for sure. It was a kind of last resort.

Fsssss.

Alaune, completely burned, turned to powder and scattered. All that remained in its place were magic stones of various colors. Quite a lot. Yeah, I worked this hard, the reward better be certain.

I couldn’t even twitch a finger, so the relatively okay Gongbyeong and Valkyrie picked up the magic stones.

The price for using the Pyrestone was brutal. I have no strength. My head drooped, and I walked almost being dragged by the Saintess. The Saintess smiled wryly.

“Looks like you have no strength left. Sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken to you.”

“It’s alright.”

“You’re so full of bravado.”

The Saintess poked my side with her finger. A groan reflexively leaked from my mouth. It hurts. This, it really fucking hurts.

The saint’s eyes flickered, pink for a moment, then shifted to a yellow tinged with blue.

“Look at you. Your body is completely wrecked.”

“……”

“Rest until you’re fully healed. I’ll take care of you.”

We started walking at a brisk pace. We had to keep moving until dawn to reach the base. There was no guarantee we wouldn’t run into monsters along the way. I was already exhausted.

“Come this way.”

“I’ll pay you back for helping me.”

“The way out is that way, okay?”

Thankfully, the dryads guided us.

“They were originally spirits. Good friends. They became corrupted as this island was enveloped in darkness.”

The saint added that thanks to her, the dryads were able to return to their original forms. The little “ahem” sound she made was a bonus.

Walking and talking with the saint now and then, I felt the surrounding temperature rise.

“Ah.”

We had finally arrived.

My longed-for stone bed was in sight!

The combat medic and I collapsed onto the bed without even washing our hands.

“We’re all a mess, aren’t we?”

The saint’s hands went to work. She treated us tirelessly. Drawing on her holy power to disinfect, applying bandages. As I received her treatment, my eyes began to droop.

“Sleep well, mage.”

With those words from the saint, my consciousness completely slipped away.

*

“You awake?”

When I came to, a full day had passed. The exhaustion was gone, but the pain from the mana depletion backlash remained. Even a slight movement made my joints sound like they were twisting.

“Rest for a week. I’ll take care of everything.”

“But I can’t just leave it all to you…”

“You don’t trust me?”

I was at a loss for words. The Saint’s expression was quite serious. She pushed me back down as I tried to get up.

Beside me lay the Engineer.

“Hey.”

“……”

“Say hi.”

“Hi, why.”

“You were kinda cool yesterday?”

The Engineer whispered with difficulty. Her head was wrapped in a natural bandage woven from leaf fibers.

“Haa.”

I sighed.

There was nothing I could do for the time being.

“You want to learn the language of the Magic Kingdom?”

The voice made me turn my head. The Saint and the Valkyrie were talking.

“Yes, I do.”

“If you want to communicate with the mage, you can do it through me. No need to dedicate time to learning it when survival is urgent.”

Valkyrie shook her head.

“I want to learn it because it’s necessary for survival.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like yesterday, when it’s just me or the sapper alone with the mage, communication is difficult. If we can understand each other, we can react more flexibly even if stronger monsters appear in the future.”

The Saintess hummed quietly. Her expression is serious.

What the hell are they talking about?

“Please. Could you teach me a little Hazkal language in your spare time?”

“Well, if that’s the reason…I guess I have no choice.”

The conversation between the two ended there. *Poke, poke,* a ticklish sensation was felt on my side the next moment.

The sapper was poking me with her finger. She stood up and showed me a magic stone.

“Mage, mage.”

“What.”

“What’s this?”

“That’s a used Reconciliation Stone. Why that….”

[“How did you make it?”]

I was momentarily speechless.

“You, just now….”

How? was the only word I could think of. If you handle Divine Power, you shouldn’t be able to speak using the Magic Words, right?

[“Surprised? You have every right to be. Because I’m not the original owner of this body.”]

I couldn’t help but be wary.

Possession.

That was the only phenomenon that came to mind.

[“You don’t need to be so afraid. I’m this girl’s sister. I’m not some demon. Of course, you probably don’t believe me when I say that… but still, I wanted to have a proper conversation with you.”]

I studied Gong-byeong’s face carefully.

Demons usually show signs of their eyes rolling back when they possess someone. That symptom wasn’t present, at least. No rashes or elongated fangs either.

It wasn’t a demon. Probably.

Then who had possessed her? Was she really Gong-byeong’s sister? Was something like this even possible in the first place?

[“My name is Mi-yo.”]

Gong-byeong, no, her sister Mi-yo, said.

[“I need to tell you a little about my past.”]

And so, I came to know Gong-byeong’s past. To summarize the key points, it was the doing of unregistered mages. They had used a forbidden technique on these sisters, inserting two souls into one body.

[“I, I wanted to learn magic. The mages said they’d teach me, so I followed them without knowing anything. They were all kind to Li-yo and me for months. But, but…”]

The mages had lured the naive fox sisters with food and toys, then kidnapped them. From what I heard, the process was quite organized.

Apparently, they wore robes and had a specific mark on their shoulders. A silver mark consisting of a circular ring with eight inverted crosses hanging from it. Definitely a cult.

Aside from the Li-yo and Mi-yo sisters, there were at least dozens more victims. Li-yo was the only one who survived there. The others all failed and died, only Li-yo succeeded in merging with Mi-yo’s soul.

[“Look at this. This tail, this left tail is mine. It’s the only part of my body that’s left.”]

I frowned. Sadness filled Mi-yo’s eyes.

[“Sorry, it’s ugly, isn’t it?”]

[“No.”]

[“It’s ugly, isn’t it? If it was clothes, it’d be like a ragged scrap of fabric patched together.”]

[“Not at all.”]

[“Liar. You just frowned.”]

[“The reason I frowned was because I found those b*stards disgusting. It has nothing to do with the way your tail looks.”]

[“Really?”]

[“Really.”]

Miyo pushed her face close. She stuck out her tongue and licked my cheek, then backed away. I sucked in a breath.

[“What was that just…”]

[“It’s a light thank-you greeting among us fox-therians.”]

[“Don’t you know it’s rude among humans?”]

[“But some people do this openly on the streets, right? They call it… cheek-s*x?”]

Fucking hell.

[“Cheek-kiss. That’s something only couples or spouses do. It’s only possible in the heavy relationships you guys talk about.”]

“Hng,” Miyo exhaled through her nose.

[“Is that so?”]

[“Yes.”]

[“Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad either.”]

[“What?”]

[“Just kidding.”]

The fox whistled. She held out a peace offering stone, her eyes gleaming.

[“Anyway, even if I’m stuck like this, I want to study magic.”]

[“After those wizards did this to you?”]

[“That’s why I’m going to learn from a sorcerer this time, not a wizard.”]

In short, she wanted me to teach her magic. Even if it meant borrowing my little sister’s body.

A sigh escaped my lips before I could stop it.

[“Aren’t you being a little too trusting?”]

[“The situation is different from when we were kids. Riyo can at least protect herself now. And after learning a decent amount from you, I’ll ditch you when we leave this island.”]

[“You’re awfully confident.”]

[“Try and catch me if you can. Bleah, bleah.”]

Gongbyeong’s left tail swayed back and forth.

[“Just so you know, Riyo goes to the Seraphia Academy. You know where that is, right?”]

I knew. Wasn’t it the best university in the Holy Spirit Nation?

[“I’m proud to say I’ve gotten quite smart studying with her too. Wizard, what school did Wizard go to?”]

[“Larreon.”]

[“…No way. You don’t seem that good.”]

[“You’ve got a real knack for getting under people’s skin.”]

[“No, no. What I mean is, why would the Magic Kingdom send people from there to a frontline like this? That’d be such a waste….”]

[“You’ve got a real knack for charming people.”]

I couldn’t help but feel a sting in my eyes. David and Calon also started bawling, ahheuk, taheuk. We were all conscripted soldiers, no, conscripted officers.

[“Fine, I’ll teach you. Magic.”]

[“Really? Really for real?”]

[“Yeah, but… did you get permission from your sister?”]

[“Huh?”]

[“’Huh?’ isn’t the answer. It’s not your body, is it? You have to talk to your sister about that, don’t you?”]

Miyo nodded.

[“Wait a second.”]

Then, Miyo lay down next to me. She suddenly started tangling her limbs around mine.

I was taken aback. Is this normal among beastkin?

“…Huh? What is this? Ee-haaack?!”

Guess not.

The saintess and valkyrie came rushing over at the engineer’s scream.